Same realm?
It had been a long time since Kanzaki Rei had enjoyed a battle this exhilarating.
The enemies he had been facing lately were things like Level 8 Skin-Stealers, Level 8 mages, incomprehensible and unknowable horrors lurking in the shadows.
Or opponents like Eltimis, Lottie, Echkatol, and Ansu...
Gods at every turn.
Level 9 beings at every turn.
It was enough to drive anyone insane.
Same realm?
Forget fighting someone at the same level—right now, even battling a lone Level 8 class holder felt like bullying weaker opponents to Rei.
Not to mention fighting a Level 5 warrior.
Not only was this not a same-level fight, his own mage level was actually one level higher than Akira's.
If I lose to you...
I might as well kill myself right now.
In a single instant, Akira's body was struck ten thousand times.
Yet the warrior's formidable physique kept him from being killed outright!
Even so, the overwhelming force sent violent shockwaves through his internal organs.
It shattered a large portion of the protective aura surrounding his body.
It disrupted his breathing and directly broke down his defenses.
If he were an ordinary warrior, that would have been one thing.
Breathing was a vital part of a warrior's combat style. Once the rhythm and frequency of one's breathing were disturbed, control over qi would be severely affected.
For weaker warriors, disrupted breathing meant a dramatic drop in combat effectiveness.
As a warrior, maintaining steady breathing was one of the most fundamental disciplines.
But...
It would be understandable if a novice warrior's breathing was thrown into chaos.
But he was a Level 9 warrior, with immeasurable combat experience...
How could he...
No.
The truth was obvious.
The man before him simply hit too hard!
"Akira."
"Are you ready?"
After enduring ten thousand strikes in an instant, Akira had not even finished adjusting his stance when a thought flashed behind him.
So fast!
Was this really the speed a Level 5 warrior should possess?
I can't keep up?
Akira suddenly realized that he could not follow Kanzaki Rei's movements at all!
But...
Boom!
Using the force of Rei's blow, Akira spun around and unleashed a sweeping roundhouse kick toward his rear!
"Divine Wind Style — Third Form: Moon Blade · Single Shave"
He was far more than proficient in a single combat art.
Divine Wind Style was his fastest attack.
Combined with the momentum Rei had just given him.
All of Rei's force had been directed in one direction, making it the perfect energy to borrow for a counterattack from behind—both mitigating the damage and retaliating in the same motion.
If Rei's attacks had come from multiple directions, it would have been much harder to redirect the force.
So...
My combat experience is still superior to his!
Boom!
The sweeping kick split the sea itself, carving a long trench across the ocean!
And yet, when the strike completed its arc, it hit nothing.
There was no sign of Kanzaki Rei behind him.
But his instincts had been certain!
His battle intuition...
was wrong?
"You're relying too much on intuition."
Rei's voice sounded once more.
And this time, his voice was accompanied by crushing force.
"Firmament Style — Second Form: Rupture · Falling Heaven"
Descending from above, he brought his leg down like an executioner's axe!
A kick crashed from the sky, driving Akira toward the ocean below!
Boom!
Akira felt his skull crack apart.
The qi atop his head condensed to a single point in an attempt to block Rei's initial impact.
But he had not expected that after Rei's strike landed,
the force would bloom outward like a flower.
The exact point of contact received almost no direct impact.
Instead, the surrounding areas—where his defenses were weakest—were struck with devastating power.
He had been completely predicted!
Boom!
No qi defense.
No blood-energy defense.
This blow shattered his defenses completely.
And embedded within the strike was a profound shock to the mind itself!
The force crushed his skull and pulped his brain into mush!
Then the impact traveled downward, shattering every bone and internal organ in his body.
Like an artillery shell, he hurtled toward the sea below.
"Imperial Style — First Form: Eternal Flourish"
Akira activated his body-tempering technique with all his strength!
He intended to restore his ruined body immediately.
He needed only one second.
In one second, injuries of this magnitude would be fully healed.
But...
Rei's voice came again.
"You're relying too much on focused defense."
Bang!
Bang bang bang bang bang bang—
Before he could react, Akira sensed an overwhelming force approaching.
Instinctively, he prepared to concentrate his defenses into a single point where the attack would land.
But then he remembered how he had just been struck.
He immediately changed his defensive method.
Yet that brief instant of hesitation was enough.
His defense came too late!
Rei's sweeping kick had already arrived.
"Firmament Style — Second Form: Rupture"
Bang—
Akira was launched backward like a streaking rainbow.
At the final moment, he managed to raise both arms into a blocking stance.
But even so, the instant he took the hit, both arms exploded into powder.
Was my body at Level 5 really this weak?
I can't even withstand a single kick from him?
And it even feels like...
that wasn't his full strength.
"You hesitated."
His body was still flying backward.
His arms had not yet regenerated.
But Rei had already erupted behind him like a bolt of lightning.
Defend!
At the very least, defend!
After only three exchanges, Akira no longer thought about counterattacking when facing Rei.
His sole thought was to block.
Concentrated defense doesn't work!
At least hold the line!
Reduce the damage from this strike, buy time to regenerate, restore my body little by little...
and then turn the battle around!
As the thought formed, his qi was already taking shape.
No longer would he wait until the final instant before defending.
No longer would he focus everything into a single point.
This approach would make his defense weaker, but at least...
it would be stable.
Block this direction!
To preserve the strength of his defense, Akira still chose to guard only the direction from which Rei was attacking.
Rei's fist was already on the verge of colliding with the qi field he had erected.
Then, in the next instant—
Whoosh!
The Rei behind him vanished.
At the same moment, Rei appeared in front of him.
The punch slammed directly into his chest.
The one place with no defense at all!
Boom!
The blow punched straight through him!
A massive hole opened in his chest.
And behind him, the seawater was blasted apart as well, revealing a gigantic fist-shaped void.
This is...
absurd!
Level 5 Warrior Advancement?
Why would a monster like this appear in a Level 5 warrior's advancement trial?
Undefeated throughout his ascent.
Victorious in every battle he had ever fought.
He had entered this trial hoping to find an opponent who could finally satisfy him.
But...
Never in his wildest imagination had he expected to encounter someone like this.
No!
The stronger the opponent, the more worthy they are to be conquered!
That is the way of the warrior!
Blood poured from Akira's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
The enormous hole in his chest caused his life force to drain at terrifying speed.
But...
His fighting spirit did not diminish.
It blazed ever more fiercely.
"Come to think of it, you still haven't told me your name! Do you think I'm not worthy of knowing it?!"
His flesh regenerated at astonishing speed.
Not two seconds.
Not even one.
At the same time, he twisted through the air and brought a leg crashing down toward Rei!
Even without his arms.
Even with his body shattered.
Even dragging a ruined body behind him,
he would fight to the very end!